Chapter 11: The new crisis
18:18 PM (Japan Time), Friday June the 29th…
"… Intruder alert! Intruder alert!"
"Heh, heh, heh… Heh, heh, heh…"
"You! Stop right there!"
"Heh, heh, heh… Heh, heh, heh… Go!"
"Yay! Check it out! Bright Man – sama's come!"
"Hah! Spark Man – sama's come!"
"Damn it! Burner Man brought accomplices along!"
Burner Man had been cutting through a firewall when the security team converged on his location: he merely looked over the right shoulder and then two "Darkloids" came into the scene.
"I go first! Bright Beam!"
Bright Man, one of the two "Darkloids" there, was slightly over a meter and sixty tall in height.
His head was protected by a helmet which covered the face all the way until the mouth: two round dome-shaped greenish bulbs seemed to be his eyes' equivalent system.
The helmet's band covering the part where his nose and eyes would be at was tinted black yet the upper section of it had been colored using orange coloring: two grayish metallic cone-formation objects protruded from the sides of the helmet and ended in a bluish spheroid.
Another prominent part about Bright Man's head was that there were two glowing fluorescent green wires which came out from two circular spots and ended in two electrical plugs colored metallic gray and blue: they looked like they could be connected to some device.
His neck was covered in the orange vest which ended a short distance from the waist.
His emblem, an orange sphere with six straight lines coming out of its lower edge and set against a sky blue background, was set inside of a navy blue edge with an arrow aiming downwards.
His upper body had an orange vest built over it while the rest of it was colored yellow: two round fluorescent bands were set around his shoulders from where his yellow-skinned arms came out.
His back was plain and unadorned save for a brown box with outer orange edges and inner black edges around a normal plug colored black but with a brown cylindrical body: the insides of the box were brown too.
The forearm armor had an upper orange section and a lower navy blue section: a sky blue band circled the diameter of it close to where the armor began:
A piece of armor shaped like a diamond was located over the palm: the front part of it had another green fluorescent piece on it while the rear part was plain armor: his hands were covered by white "skin".
His lower body and legs were also orange in coloring and were covered in armor from the knees downwards: the armor was also orange, had two blue round stripes, and ended shoes shaped like circles which included a greenish fluorescent band and metallic soils.
He suddenly made several bursts of light be emitted from his eyes and had them rotate around them: they shot forward and hit the security Navis: they were retrieved and he snapped his right hand's index and thumb finger again.
"Hah! Too easy! Check it out! The great I am invincible~!"
"Hah! Spark Ball!"
The other "Darkloid", Spark Man, could be close to a meter and seventy tall but had a rather massive shape.
A small dome-like shape formed over his upper body and below the head: the head was shaped like a circle and had orange armor over it plus a small tooth-like piece forming beneath the forehead.
It extended until the spot where a person's nose would be at.
His eyes' irises were red in color and he had no visible mouth: the head also had a metallic piece shaped like the "L" character turned 90º to the right so as to aim northwards.
His main body was shaped like a really thick disc: the front half was orange: a hollow circular line spread across the front face of it that had two green bulb-like objects set on it plus his emblem: two yellow lances crossing each other and set over a navy blue - colored background. The rear half's top and bottom were yellow: three layers of metallic armor took up the center of the rear half.
His shoulders were orange-colored spheroids and his arms were colored navy blue: two orange cylinders were placed there the hands would be at thus allowing him to carry large metallic spears emerging from the front and short ones from the rear of each cylinder: the outwards-facing sides of the cylinders had yellow curved bands spanning their total length set on them.
The lower body was also navy blue and spheres colored blue placed were where the ankles would be at: the legs spread from them until the knees, where the boots began: a yellow piece reminiscent of the "L" character turned 90º to the left extended from the front to the rear through the in-between: there was a navy blue hole in the center of the front part.
His boots were colored orange and ended in round platform-like formations: the central band of it was colored yellow with three green-colored drawings starting at the upper edge and spanning until the lower edge: the disc-shaped platform-like feet were decorated with a small navy blue dot set on the front of them.
He looked menacing and confident at the same time.
Spark Man formed orange spheroids with eight yellow extensions popping out at the corners and a green dot in the middle surrounded by metallic armor: they emitted electricity bursts.
"Ugra~h! Wua~h!"
"Mwah, hah, hah, hah! The raw garbage and the non-burning garbage fused, huh? Then I'll incinerate it! Hah, hah, hah! Nyah, hah, hah, hah!" He laughed.
"Yay! We're better than Flash Man! Check it out!"
"Buy me another little while. I'm almost there." Burner Man called out as he tossed them six "Dark Chips" which landed at their feet.
"Heh, heh, heh. As long as there are "Dark Chips" involved then we don't care working with you…" Spark Man chuckled.
"Yay!"
"Sonic Boom!"
"Scope Gun!"
"Kuah!"
"Gruh!"
"What? The "Net Saviors"…!"
"That's as far as you come!"
"We won't allow you to enter the Net Police database!"
Blues and Search Man attacked Bright Man and Spark Man who grumbled: Burner Man looked over his right shoulder.
"Buy me 55 seconds to get in!" He called out.
"55 seconds? Piece of a cake! Yay! Check it out! Energy Ball!"
"Spark Whip!"
"Battle Chip, Bamboo Sword! Slot In!"
"Satellite Ray! Search Grenades!"
Search Man tossed some grenades at the feet of Spark Man which detonated and startled him before the miniature "killer satellite" shot an attack at him from behind.
"Eat this!"
"What!"
Bright Man formed a glowing greenish ball of energy which Blues hit back with the Bamboo Sword: he warped and appeared inches away from Bright Man to then slash the air and make him meet the ground while having a cut on his torso.
"Damn!"
"Battle Chip, Woody Tower! Slot In!"
"Ugra~h!"
The Woody Tower formed beneath Spark Man and he was lifted upwards before it vanished and he fell into the ground: an ugly-looking wound had formed on his body.
"Damn! Oi! Bright Man!"
"Yeah! Check it out!"
"Dark Chip!"
"Shit."
"Good! Another 7 seconds and I'll get in!" Burner Man rallied.
"Easy! Yay! Bright Beam!"
"Hah! Spark Whip!"
"Ua~h!"
"Muo~h!"
Both "Net Saviors" were kicked into the floor and Bright Man stepped over Blues while Spark Man crossed his lances over Search Man's neck and began to electrocute him.
"I'm in! I'm downloading the files… 13 seconds!"
"Hah! We're invincible~!" Spark Man laughed.
"Their data should've degraded like Beast Man…!" Blues managed to utter.
"What? Beast Man? Hah! The fool was a weakling in the end." Spark Man scoffed.
"Yay! Too silly~! What's intelligent about coming up with an imitation program and some mirror plays?" Bright Man laughed.
"No! I think Shirakami edited them because the "Dark Chips" were designed like that by Dr. Regal…" Laika cursed.
"Shit. The rascal."
"I've got the stuff! Let's pull back! Today Flash Man loses! Heh, heh, heh, heh, heh, heh!" Burner Man ran off while chuckling.
"Yay!"
"Hah!"
The three of them escaped so both Navis got up somehow: they ran inside of the database and Search Man scanned.
"Damn it. The files on the "Nebula Dimensional Converters"… Shirakami must want to refit them somehow because Regal isn't around to abduct Navis en masse…"
"Shit. The last thing we needed. A real-world war! But it'd seem those three can materialize so there'd be five defenders, at the very best: it'll be something hard! But we shouldn't complain because insofar there was but me and Rock Man." Blues fumed.
"Feel the despair!" The voice of "Nebula Grey" taunted from nowhere in particular.
The "monster", or, rather, a hologram of it, suddenly emerged from inside of the database and roared accompanied by laughter.
"Hah, hah, hah! Hah, hah, hah!"
"Who the hell are they?"
18:39 PM (Japan Time)…
"… Let's set some cloaked Killer Eyes around… I reported to Mr. Sponsor, the Boss of that Omega guy, already… There was trouble at the Net Police database, it'd seem…"
The unidentified individual known as Chaos was walking around the Cyber World, placing Killer Eyes with cloaking ability: they then found something shiny in the ground.
"What's this?"
Chaos picked it up: it was data for a Variable Sword Battle Chip
Oho. It might be useful.
They then turned it around to see a red stick on the back side.
A tracer... So it's them. When will they focus on the "Darkloids" instead of believing random ideas about me?
Chaos then sliced the fake Chip data in half before they activated a Dream Aura to reflect two Rabbit Rings which tried to immobilize them and logged out before the attackers could react.
"Shit."
"Damn."
Blues and Search Man came out of their hiding places.
"The target has retreated." Search Man merely announced.
"And we were very close. Why did we have to mark the data? After failing to protect the database, we fail to catch this guy as well! Shit." Blues growled.
"Well... That's how tracers are designed." Search Man simply replied.
"… Aha. That's how they're designed, huh…" Blues' comment had a tone of sarcasm to it.
"Blues? Can I ask you something?"
"What is it?"
"During that time when Rock Man's Operator went into a coma – like status… You visited Rock Man a lot." He began.
"He is my partner. And I wanted to try and comfort him. You know he's more than a Net Navi." Blues pointed out.
"I can understand that. However… I think there is something between you two." He told him while sounding like he was teasing him.
"…Something? … Be serious." His tone turned serious.
"I'm not asking this because of an order." He cleared up.
"Really? … I suppose you can keep it secret. Right?"
"But of course." Search Man smiled.
"Sometimes I feel like we are very close. However, he is linked by blood to his younger brother and Operator. I think he hasn't realized. And I'm not in a rush: it may take some years to settle in."
"Ah. I was just satisfying my curiosity. I consider you my partner, Blues, and I will keep this secret." He shook hands with him.
"Thanks. I owe you one." Blues smiled.
"You don't owe me at all." Search Man replied.
"Huff. Change of plans. Let's leave Chaos for today. We're going for a stroll. We need to shake off this defeatist mood."
"And let's hope we don't meet Uncle Sam." Laika added with a smug smile, for once.
"Huh? What's the point of that, Laika? Is there any to begin with, anyway?" Enzan didn't seem to get it.
"Don't mind it." Laika shrugged.
"You're turning weird."
"Not my problem. Heh, heh."
19:09 PM (Japan Time)…
… Netto – kun. Today and Wednesday were your turns. Why did you skip them?
… I wanted to experience how you felt during the Crisis, when you were forced to hide as my split personality…
Saito was walking down a street and apparently talking with Netto: he looked somewhat sad and worried.
That's why? Saito was surprised.
… Yeah. Also… I have a feeling which somehow tells me that you'd handle better than me if something were to happen.
Don't fret, Netto – kun… I'm sure we'll manage to find a good solution to this stuff. No – one is invincible. Saito tried to cheer him up.
Yeah. You're right, niisan. Enzan will end up finding out a way to deal with that jerk. Netto sounded in a better mood.
Saito was about to cross in front of a side street when the IPC limo, coming from behind him, pulled up to him and stopped: Enzan lowered the window and smiled at him.
"Hullo, Saito." Enzan greeted.
"Hey! Enzan! How are you doing?" Saito smiled back.
"Would you join me and Laika for a ride?"
"Laika is here? Then count me in."
Enzan came out to allow Saito to have the middle seat: he climbed in and smiled at Laika.
"Hello, Hikari. It's been a while." Laika greeted with a smile.
"Sure it has, Laika – san. And I think Netto - kun learned from his mistakes three months ago… But no – one's perfect, anyway."
"Ah. Today it's you… Saito. So we finally meet."
"Please keep following this route." Enzan told the driver in the meanwhile by leaning over towards him.
"Roger, Vice President, sir."
"And how is Search Man?" Saito asked.
"See by yourself."
Laika took out his PET from his belt's pouch and handed it to Saito: he picked it and looked at the screen displaying Search Man.
"Hello, Search Man."
"Hello. Should I address you as Saito or as Rock Man?" Search Man asked, sounding slightly unsure.
"You can address me as Rock Man, if it's easier for you." Saito kindly offered.
"Thanks." Search Man smiled.
"So. What happened today?"
"Three "Darkloids" hit the Net Police Database and stole some files: Burner Man and two first-timers named Bright Man and Spark Man. Each used three "Dark Chips" in a row and won time for Burner Man to steal the data on the "Nebula Dimensional Converters"…"
"Oh crap."
"Chaos escaped us and that "Nebula Grey" thing showed up again to laugh at our defeat before escaping. No – one seems to have been able to detect how the hologram was projected from the core section of the database to begin with." Enzan continued.
Saito suddenly seemed to shudder.
"Are you O.K.?"
"Huh! I think the air conditioner is a bit low."
"Is this better?" Enzan asked after adjusting them.
"Thank you. I think I'm sensible to this kind of things. I mean… We're on summer, but I haven't experienced a real winter before."
"Don't worry over it. Everyone's got their sensations. Want me to drop you at your place?" Enzan offered.
"Thank you."
Both Enzan's and Laika's PETs rang with the distinct beep of a "Net Savior" call: a familiar face appeared on the screen.
"Enzan – kun! Laika – kun! We have a situation! Burner Man is trying to hack his way through our firewalls again! I think they're after data on the Advanced PET II this time!" Meijin reported.
"We're on our way, Meijin! Sorry. I'll drop you later." He told Saito after he confirmed the call.
"I don't mind. I'll stay here while you two deal with the "Darkloid". I don't want to get in your way."
"Huh? Someone's fighting Burner Man!"
"What!"
"That sword… Greek! It's "Greek"! Transmitting imagery…!"
"Oho. One correction… Name's Omega. Say bye to my dramatics."
"Omega! Sigma and Omega…" Saito muttered.
"YOU BASTARD!" Burner Man roared.
"Huh? What. Were you talking to me?" Omega asked in a dull tone of voice.
"What happened the other day with Cold Man?"
"He insulted my pride: I got annoyed and before I'd realized what I was doing I'd slaughtered the guy. My "butcher mode" must've been triggered, I guess." He didn't seem to be concerned.
"B-butcher mode…?" Everyone gasped.
"Well. Yeah. Instead of using about 80% of my power, I bring it out to 100% and dedicate my whole processor to fighting: I don't even speak and my processor only cares about my sword and gun skills."
"W-whoa!"
"You gotta be kidding me~!" Burner Man looked horrified, for once, as evidenced by his face.
"No." He directed a dry and dull glare at the guy.
"THIS FUCKER!"
"Says the man... You don't have "it" to begin with..."
"What's "it"? Power…?"
"Dunno. Ask Shirakami."
"The guy's always coming and leaving. But I don't care 'cause he gives us free access to a "Dark Chip" cache which never runs out!" Burner Man shot back.
"Chaos mentioned something about Shirakami going overseas to some Ameroupe army facility server somehow…" Enzan recalled.
"What could he hope to find there? A Kiowa Warrior?" Laika wondered.
"What's that?" Saito asked.
"One of the most terrific stealth choppers ever."
"Yikes."
"So. Big bully. What'll it be?"
"Shit. I'm off!"
"There. If only wars could be ended so easily…"
"W-whoa."
"And please don't pester "Chaos" that much. He's no criminal. He just has an eerie look to him and thinks he'd scare people off."
"A-alright."
"See ya around, I guess."
"Phew. Well. I'll drop you near the home and then go back to IPC to check on the security: I want to download the Advanced PET II data into a CD to have a physical copy just in case." Enzan sighed.
"Alright. Thanks for the ride. At least we finally got to meet Omega: and he's as impressive as I thought he had to be."
"Hah. Mere rubbish…!" "Nebula Grey" proclaimed.
"Is that…?"
"Yes! I'm the one who dragged you into my domains to analyze your battle potential: I needed future references just in case! I am "Nebula Grey": the Demon Tribe Chief who will eventually… achieve the ultimate evolution! Become the Demon God!" They proclaimed.
"So you're copying Sorcerer Gufuu." Saito tried to taunt.
"Yeah. I'm a copycat, sadly enough." He taunted back.
"If you're so terrifically powerful…" Laika began.
"…why don't I take over the "Darkloids"? Hah. I could, yeah. I could plunge that kid into an endless living Naraku and make mincemeat of Shade Man wherever the fool is at but… Nah. Then the traitor dogs would get in the way. No! I'll bid my time. I don't care if I have to wait years. I'll find a good chance… To plunge this worthless world into terror and fear! Hear me out, Rock Man EXE! You and Hikari Netto will become property of the Great Master one day! Heh, heh, heh, heh… Hah, hah, hah! Hah, hah, hah! Hah, hah, hah! Hah, hah, hah!"
"They've fled… What a creepy bastard." Blues grumbled aloud.
"Sure thing." Saito was unimpressed.
"Ah. Here we are. See you around."
"Alright. Bye."
Saito stepped down and the limo sped away: he began to walk in the direction of his house, one block away, while humming a tune and stepping past the entrance of an alley.
"Heh, heh, heh!"
"Huh?"
All of sudden, a strong arm grabbed him from behind and a soaked handkerchief was pressed over his mouth: focusing, he kicked with his elbows at his assaulter, who let go in surprise.
"Damn it! "Nebula Grey"?" He demanded.
"Q-q-qué? No entiendo! Duerme, niño!"
"Spanish? "W-w-what? I don't understand! Sleep, kid!"… You're the one who's gonna sleep!" He shot back.
Feeling dizzy, Saito then punched him on the stomach, and inflicted an uppercut to hit the man in the jaw: his vision was blurring, and he couldn't keep his focus up for much longer.
"Maldito!"
"… "Damn you"… That's my motto!"
He ducked a punch from the man and grabbed his arm: he positioned himself behind him and twisted the arm, drawing out a yelp from the attacker.
Ugh…! No good…! I'm fading…!
Suddenly all strength left him as he fell to the ground, losing consciousness: the man groaned and rubbed his arm.
"Maldito crío!"
("Damned kiddo!")
He dragged Saito towards a non-descript black Subaru and opened the trunk: he put the boy inside and tied him with tape and he also used some to blindfold and gag him.
"Heh, heh, heh! Soy un genio!"
("I'm a genius!")
He closed the trunk and climbed into the driver's seat before he moved out of the side alley and into the approaching evening: the driver smiled and chuckled under his breath.
"Heh, heh, heh, heh, heh, heh!"
"… Shit…! Damn you! You traffic light! When are you going to change to green?"
A man on his forties, dressed in regular business attire and with a black beard, black hair and sunglasses yelled as he pressed the horn of his car.
There was another man his age, who was wearing the same expect that he only had a brown moustache and brown hair: he wore a hat.
"Karasu. Yelling won't do you any good. Maybe it's broken?" He dully told him before making a suggestion.
"Hell! I'm going to fix it! Wait and see, Mori!"
The first man got out of the car and opened the wire compartment to see some wires mixed.
"Some lousy vandal manipulated the wires so it'd always stay red! He must be a son of a bull!"
He used his plastic gloves to fix the signal and climbed back into the car, slamming the door shut.
"We will be damned lucky if we're not skinned alive for losing sight of the limo!" He hissed.
"Maybe we will, Karasu. But that gentleman should be back at his house by now." The other man kept his cool.
"I suppose. We're going to check, anyway. The Chief wouldn't forgive us if we didn't make sure he got there safe and unharmed. And he's in a terrible mood ever since last day around for some reason…"
They parked near the Hikari house five minutes later and they knew something was wrong right away: there was a police car in front of the house.
"Stay put. I'm going to check." Mori told Karasu.
"Yeah. Go ahead." Karasu agreed on it.
Mori got out and examined the ground: he entered the side alley guided by a muffled ringing sound: the source was a blue PET II which was rumbling and displaying a message onscreen:
MAMA CALLING
He spotted something else: there were marks from a car, and they were quite fresh.
"Let devil bite me." He grumbled.
He grabbed the PET II and headed towards the house: once he was there, he rang the doorbell and a policeman stepped out.
"Is this the Hikari residence? Has something happened?" Mori inquired.
"The boy who lived here has disappeared. He's not answering his PET II."
"Is it this one? "I found it at a side alley which is almost a block away from here. And there were car tires marks, too."
"You suspect abduction? May I have your name, please? Ah. The ID… Let's see… Arkeno Kamiyo – san. You are aged forty – four. You work for the Economics Department of Games Associates Inc. Thank you, sir."
"May I go, sir?"
"Of course. Your cooperation has been very useful."
"… Mr. Denpa, sir? We have a problem, sir. The gentleman has been abducted by an unidentified party." Mori contacted someone.
"Moule à graufes! Espèce d'ectoplasme! Anthropopithèque! Move it! He has to return home alive! NO MATTER WHAT IT TAKES! GET IT? NOW MOVE IT! BY SATAN! NO ONE SCREWS US!"